Watsonville tightens ban on single-use plastic bags

WATSONVILLE -- On a 6-0 vote Tuesday, the Watsonville City Council expanded a nearly 5-year-old ban on polystyrene take-out containers to the sale of retail products made of the plastic foam.

But on a second vote with environmental implications, the council split 4-2 to tighten the city's ordinance banning single-use plastic bags and to retain a 25-cent charge for paper bags at grocery check-out stands.

"Just within our city limits we have sloughs, lakes, rivers," said Councilman Felipe Hernandez, siding with the majority on the second vote. "Our responsibility is to protect them for future generations."

Councilwoman Nancy Bilicich voted no on the bag ban because she opposes the fee for paper bags, which she said penalizes customers and profits stores.

"I think with plastic it is important that we have it out of our environment," Bilicich said. "However, I think it's ridiculous that stores are making a quarter (on paper bags). I'm not going to support this until something is done for paper bags. They should be free again."

Environmental Projects Manager Nancy Lockwood said the aim of the ordinance was to not only reduce the litter of plastic bags but also to encourage the use of reusable bags.

"By offering free paper bags, it would conflict with that intent," Lockwood said.

Lockwood also said stores that once offered throw-away plastic bags have been selling slightly thicker versions with handles for a quarter. Though they fit the definition for a reusable bag in the original ban, they are rarely returned to stores.

Laura Kasa, executive director of Save Our Shores, said from October to November her organization counted 740 shoppers leaving stores with the bags, and only four people returning with them.

"People are not reusing these," Kasa said.

The revised ordinance requires a thicker plastic bag, similar to those typically sold for $1. Lockwood said people would be more likely to reuse the better bags.

The council also extended the 2009 ban on polystyrene containers to the retail environment.

Kasa said the ban, which also is in force in Santa Cruz, Capitola and the County of Santa Cruz, has been effective in reducing container litter. But the pieces of plastic foam show up at every beach clean-up, though since Capitola expanded its prohibition to retail produces, there has been a decrease.

"This is an opportunity for us," said Councilman Daniel Dodge. "We were very successful when we banned plastic bag, and I think our community really accepted that. I look at this campaign as an extension of that, to educate our community about what Styrofoam does, how it pollutes the environment. This is taking it to another level."